Rays @ Red Sox 10th-12th August 2021

Nice to see the RS finally bludgeoning someone. That 32 runs in 3 games. We had gone 3-11 over 14 games. Had we scored 5 rpg, we'd have been 7-7. Just as important, that's a huge game from Eovaldi. So by my rose-colored calculations, that's one-great game from Eovaldi, a good 8-game stretch from ERod, with two really good games in his last two, an excellent game from Pivetta, and a 1.17 ERA from Houck over his last 15.1 IPs.

We have a crazy amount of inconsistency, but with Sale, this could be a quite good rotation.

Notes: Richards to 'pen; Plawecki earns time
August 11th, 2021
Ian Browne

Ian Browne
@ianmbrowne



BOSTON -- For the second time in less than a week, Red Sox manager Alex Cora has moved a starting pitcher to the bullpen.

Wednesday’s announcement was the demotion of Garrett Richards, who was signed to a one-year, $10 million contract in the offseason with the hope that he could be the team’s No. 3 or 4 starter. Martín Pérez was moved out of the rotation last weekend.

The two moves have paved the way for Red Sox ace Chris Sale to make his long-awaited return from Tommy John surgery on Saturday and for right-hander Tanner Houck to remain in the rotation for the rest of the season.

Houck, Boston’s No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline, is expected to be recalled again from Triple-A Worcester and start Thursday’s finale of the three-game series against the Rays. The 25-year-old has pitched in 10 games for the Red Sox over the last two seasons, posting a 1.69 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP.

Down the stretch, the Red Sox will go with a rotation of Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta and Houck.

While Richards had a decent run from April 27 to June 6, posting a 2.98 ERA over eight starts, he struggled mightily both before and after that. In 22 starts overall this season, he is 6-7 with a 5.22 ERA.

The righty was vocal about how difficult it was for him to adjust after MLB announced the enforcement of the rule allowing pitchers only to use rosin to help with grip of the baseball.

Richards tried to reinvent himself by relying less on his slider and more on a new pitch -- a split changeup. But it came with mixed results, and he has pitched less than six innings in his last 11 starts.

Richards last pitched on Sunday in Toronto, and Cora said he was available in relief for Wednesday’s game.

“Obviously just like Martín, [he’s] disappointed,” said Cora. “They see themselves as starters, but at the same time, understanding where we're at and the people that are coming here to contribute, right? It starts with Chris, and everybody knows that Tanner is part of the equation.”

Cora thinks that Richards and Pérez have the potential to strengthen a Red Sox bullpen which has struggled mightily of late.

“The stuff we do believe is going to be a little bit better velocity-wise, and where we're at right now, we can use them as multiple-inning guys in high-leverage situations or in close games that we’re down,” Cora said.

“I do believe [Richards] threw the ball well in Toronto. Stuff-wise, he was really good. The slider, the breaking ball were good. We’ll see how it goes. We’ve got a lot of games to play and there’s stuff that can happen and adjustments we can make throughout these few weeks, but I do believe we can use him in multiple innings and use length to get to the next level of relievers.”

Plawecki earning more time
Christian Vázquez went into the season as Boston’s clear No. 1 catcher, a position he held since the start of 2019. But the line is becoming more blurred of late.

Kevin Plawecki, who has been swinging the bat better than Vázquez recently, got the nod on Wednesday against Rays lefty Josh Fleming. He entered the contest with a slash line of .364/.429/.477 against lefties this season.

“I cannot tell you percentages [of playing-time distribution], but [Plawecki is] catching today,” said Cora. “On a team that offensively has struggled the last month or month and 10 days, we need his at-bats. They’re quality at-bats. It’s not a knock on Christian. It’s actually where we’re at.”

The decision to start Plawecki on Wednesday came several hours before Vázquez was placed on the bereavement list and replaced on the roster by Connor Wong, who was recalled from Triple-A Worcester.

Players must serve a minimum of three games on the bereavement list and no more than seven. That means the earliest Vázquez can return is for Saturday’s game against the Orioles.

Cora’s job: 'Cancel the noise'
There is arguably no tougher city for a baseball team to slump in than Boston, where every misstep in every loss gets magnified.

Cora, who played for the Red Sox for four seasons and is in his third year managing the team, knows that better than anyone.

“I do believe that as a manager, my job is to cancel the noise,” Cora said. “It gets loud. It gets loud when you’re winning. It gets loud when you’re losing. These are things we talk about in Spring Training. We play in a special place, and in a special place where we are not irrelevant.

“People care about this team and they enjoy the highs and they let us know when things are not going great. My job as a manager is to cancel the noise and make sure they understand this is part of the process.”

Red Sox rebound against Rays in a big way, by scoring 20 runs
By Julian Benbow Globe Staff,Updated August 11, 2021, 10:27 p.m.

Part of Alex Cora’s job as Red Sox manager is to keep a level head in order to keep things from falling apart.

Without question, the Sox’ slide since the All-Star break was starting to raise the temperature in the clubhouse. Players were starting to wear frustration on their faces. Cora was trying his best to mask his own disappointment with a sense of optimism.
Related: After run of frustrating play, Red Sox couldn’t have scripted a much better outcome Wednesday night

But more than looking at the glass as half-full, Cora simply looked at the numbers. The Red Sox have been the second-best-hitting team in baseball this season with two outs (.254), but their .240 average over the past 14 games was in the middle of the pack. They were hitting .264 with runners in scoring position before the break, eighth in baseball, but over the past 14 games that clip had dived to .165.


“I know you guys know the numbers — sometimes I’ve tried to avoid the numbers — but the fact that we haven’t been good with men in scoring position, the fact that we haven’t been good with men on third and less than two out, the numbers are eye-opening,” Cora said. “There’s two ways of seeing it — and I’ll take the positive way — we should get back to normal sooner rather than later because this is out of the norm.”

The numbers rushed back in the Sox’ direction Wednesday in a 20-8 win over the Rays. The Sox mashed out their biggest night of the season, roughing up Rays starter Josh Fleming for 10 runs and putting 20 on the scoreboard for the 18th time in franchise history and the first since 2015 against the Mariners. Their 19 hits were the most since they tagged the Yankees for 19 two years ago.

The Sox went 12 for 24 with runners in scoring position and came through with seven two-out RBIs. Cora laughed at how funny the numbers game can be.


“What we’re doing offensive, I can say, ‘Yeah, we’re giving ourselves chances, getting into scoring position,’ ” he said. “But no, we have to do the job. What was going on for three weeks or whatever, that’s not who we are, we know that and we’re going to get better.”

Kiké Hernández, who went 3 for 5 with a double and three runs scored, had three hits through three innings. Hunter Renfroe went 3 for 5 with four RBIs. Bobby Dalbec went 2 for 3 and drove in a career-high five runs.

“Definitely a night that a lot of us were looking forward to, the offense exploding,” Xander Bogaerts said.

The Sox didn’t waste many scoring opportunities. They hung three runs on Fleming in the first inning thanks to RBI doubles from Renfroe and Bogaerts, and an RBI single from J.D. Martinez.

They tacked on to the lead in the second with a two-out double from Renfroe that scored Dalbec and Hernandez and widened the lead to 5-0.

The Sox blew the doors open in the fourth with Fleming searching for a feel for his pitches. With one out and runners on first and second, Rafael Devers delivered a run-scoring double that stretched the lead to six. Fleming intentionally walked Martinez to load the bases, then walked Kevin Plawecki on four pitches, letting Renfroe trot home and push the lead to 7-0.


Marwin Gonzalez singled to right to score Devers. Dalbec followed with a line-drive single to right that plated Martinez and Plawecki and gave the Sox a 10-0 lead.

Fleming lasted just 3⅓ innings, his shortest start of the season. His 10 earned runs and 11 hits allowed, and six walks were all career highs.

But the Sox weren’t done doing damage. They made the score even more lopsided with a four-run fifth inning. Martinez stroked an RBI single to right and Dalbec lifted a fly ball that sailed over the head of right fielder Randy Arozarena and dropped in for a three-run triple.

The 14-0 lead allowed Sox starter Nate Eovaldi to cruise through seven innings. He didn’t give up a run until the sixth, when Brandon Lowe stung him for a solo homer.

“It was a big one for us,” Eovaldi said. “They’re in first place right now, we’re coming after them. Tonight, it was a big win for us.”

The Sox snapped a six-game losing streak to the Rays and closed the gap in the division to four games.

“At the end of the day,” Cora said, “what really matters is wins and losses and where you finish in the standings.”

For Cora, the avalanche of offense was a sign that the numbers eventually even out.

“There’s some times that you hit .400 with men in scoring position, and there’s times that you hit .190 like we’re doing now,” Cora said. “So when everything goes back to reality, we should be a good offensive team. We should be OK. We’re going to be OK.”

Red Sox Notebook
‘Good chance’ Red Sox’ Kyle Schwarber begins rehab assignment Thursday
By Julian Benbow Globe Staff,Updated August 11, 2021, 7:49 p.m.

The rehab waiting game that Kyle Schwarber has had to play since the Red Sox acquired him before the trade deadline last month is coming closer to an end.

Manager Alex Cora said there’s “a good chance” Schwarber will begin a rehab assignment Thursday with Triple A Worcester.
Related: Did the Red Sox hit rock bottom with Tuesday’s loss to the Rays? They sure hope so

Schwarber has been out of action since early July because of a hamstring injury. He was still rehabbing the injury when the Nationals traded him to Boston on July 29 for pitching prospect Aldo Ramirez.

Schwarber continued his recovery once he joined the Sox but had a setback last week in Toronto when he suffered a groin injury. Schwarber was still able to work out and take batting practice on the field, and said he was eager to return to action.



Asked how long Schwarber’s rehab assignment might last, Cora joked, “If it’s up to him, he’ll probably say hi to the guys and come back and perform.”


Before the hamstring injury, Schwarber was on a tear. He hit .280 in June with 16 home runs and 30 RBIs. He had a historic stretch, matching the record with 12 home runs in a 10-game span set by Albert Belle in 1995.

For the season, Schwarber is hitting .253 with 25 homers and 53 RBIs. Cora was confident that every measure had been taken to get Schwarber back to that form.

“I think we’ve done everything possible to get him to a spot that, offensively, he feels right,” Cora said. “Indoor, outdoor, everything. Velocity, spin, everything.”

As the Red Sox search for pop that’s been missing from the lineup, Cora pointed to Schwarber’s production in 2016 that helped push the Cubs to the World Series championship. Schwaber played just two regular-season games that year after tearing his ACL and LCL in an outfield collision, but he returned for the postseason and hit .412 in the World Series.


“You guys saw what happened when they won the World Series, how quick he came back and how good he was,” Cora said. “So don’t bet against him. I think it’s just a matter of he feels great, he moves well, and we go from there.”
Houck to start

After Wednesday night’s win, Cora named rookie righthander Tanner Houck to start Thursday’s series finale against the Rays. Nick Pivetta is set to pitch on Friday in the series opener against the Orioles.

Houck, who pitched last Saturday in Toronto as the Sox’ 27th man in a doubleheader, had not yet to be added to the roster as of Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Garrett Richards and Martín Pérez have headed to the bullpen to make room in the rotation for Houck and Chris Sale, who is set to make his season debut on Saturday. Richards is 6-7 with a 5.22 ERA, while Pérez is 7-8, 4.80.

Cora described Richards and Pérez as “disappointed” by the decision, yet understanding.

“Disappointed because they see themselves as starters,” Cora said. “But at the same time, understanding where we’re at and the people that are coming here to contribute. It starts with Chris, and everybody knows that Tanner is part of the equation.”

Richards and Pérez have experience coming out of the bullpen. Richards has made 59 career appearances in relief with a 4.37 ERA. Pérez has come out of the bullpen 18 times in his career with a 4.68 ERA.


Cora was bullish on Pérez potential going forward, particularly after seeing his fastball flirt with 96 miles per hour in Tuesday night’s loss to the Rays.

“His stuff, we do believe is going to be a little bit better, velocity-wise,” Cora said. “Where we’re at right now, we can use them as multiple-inning guys in high-leverage situations in close games where we’re down.

“We’ve got a lot of games to play and there’s stuff that can happen or adjustments that we might make throughout these few weeks. But I do believe we can use him in multiple innings to give us length to get to the next wave of relief.”
Vázquez on leave

Catcher Christian Vázquez was placed on the bereavement list shortly before Wednesday night’s first pitch. His spot on the active roster was filled by Connor Wong, who was called up from Worcester.

With Josh Fleming make the start for the Rays, Cora already had plugged Kevin Plawecki into the lineup behind the plate, looking to take advantage of Plawecki’s bat, particularly against lefthanded pitching. Plawecki is hitting .313 on the season, .364 against lefties.

“We need his at-bats,” Cora said. “They’re quality at-bats. It’s not a knock on Christian, but where we’re at, we need his at-bats. It’s been pretty solid, getting on base, hitting the ball hard, using the whole field and that’s the reason he’s playing today.

“We’ve been going through a stretch where we’re facing lefties, and as a unit we haven’t produced,” said Cora. “So those guys that hit lefties, we need them in the lineup.”

Special delivery

Chris Snow, assistant general manager for the NHL’s Calgary Flames, will throw out the first pitch Thursday at Fenway.

Snow, a Boston-area native and former Sox beat writer for the Globe, was diagnosed with ALS in 2019.

At the time, he was given 6-18 months to live. A clinical trial at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto was able to slow the progression of the illness.

Snow was able to enjoy life with his family (his wife, Kelsie, was also once an intern at the Globe) and return to work for the Flames.

“I am still myself,” he told the Los Angeles Times last year. “I can walk into a room and people who don’t know, they wouldn’t know. They wouldn’t realize it. I’m not walking slowly. I’m walking. I can run. I can skate, I can rollerblade.

“If we went back to a year ago and you painted this scene for me today, I would be in tears because I would be elated. The mental challenge now is I’ve seen these benefits and I get greedy. I want it all. I want this to last for 40 more years, or more.”
Hurdle cleared


The scoreless inning that Ryan Brasier threw Tuesday in Worcester went beyond baseball for Cora. Brasier was placed on the injured list May 3 with a calf injury, and while throwing a simulated game in Fort Myers, Fla., in June he was struck in the head by a line drive. “It’s just amazing that he’s doing this, to be honest with you,” Cora said. “Personally, and you guys heard me talk a month ago, it’s not that I doubted him because I’ve seen him overcome a lot of stuff, but the light at the end of the tunnel was way out there. And now it’s close, which is great. He’s been through a lot. I can’t even imagine. The fact that he’s performing and there’s no hesitation is amazing.” Brasier is set to throw again Thursday in Worcester, but any timetable for a return was unimportant to Cora. “He’s getting closer, which is awesome,” Cora said. “Forget the Red Sox, for the kid to be able to pull this off so soon and at this level is amazing.” . . . Danny Santana (groin) and Christian Arroyo (hamstring) will continue to work out with the possibility of starting rehab assignments next week, according to Cora.